Music Night
by Omoni
Summary: In an attempt to cheer Zuko up, Iroh throws a nostalgic music night for him. The end results are certainly not what Zuko or Mai had expected... WARNING: Adult content, as well as spoilers for the series.


**_Warning: Contains sexual material and some adult language, as well as spoilers for the end of the series. Occurs six years post-finale._**

**Music Night**

"What? No."

"Oh, come on. It's been years since you've seen these men. Things have quieted down, and now you have time to yourself. It's perfect!"

"_No._"

"Zuko," Mai muttered, looking at her nails. "Just throw the damned party."

"_No!_" Zuko repeated stubbornly. "I saw them at our wedding; why should I waste my time with them now?"

Iroh's face fell. "Waste your time? These are men that you spent three years with, during one of the hardest times of your life. Now that you have grown, I'm sure they would be delighted to see you once more."

Zuko crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at his cup of tea, which rested harmlessly on the table before him. "No. I hate them."

Mai rolled her eyes, pouring Iroh some more tea. "You do not, you big idiot," she responded. "You're just embarrassed because the last time you saw them you were grinning like an idiot and getting tipsy."

Zuko blushed. "I was_ not_!"

Mai stared at him. "You were so. I was there. I was the bride, remember?"

"Zuko," Iroh spoke over his nephew's snarls of frustration. "You need a break. What could be better than spending a wonderful night enjoying music with your former shipmates?"

"Anything!" Zuko exploded.

"You're going," Mai answered, sipping her tea. "Shut up and suck it up."

Zuko put his head in his hands and whined out his dismay. Both Mai and Iroh shared smirks of amusement. They both knew that in the end, Zuko would probably enjoy himself.

What they didn't know was how incredibly right they were.

* * *

Zuko wished he could disappear.

It was almost exactly like it had been back then, except that this time, unfortunately for him, the music and dancing would not be interrupted by a choppy sea or an impending storm.

He and Mai were sitting together on the only couch in the entire room. Mai had her head on his lap and her legs propped up on the couch arm, while Zuko had his arms crossed and was sitting rather stiffly in place.

Ji had been the first to arrive, complete with mandolin and alcohol. Pon and Win, the two furnace workers, shortly followed with drums and a tambourine (and even more alcohol). Iroh, of course, brought out the sungi horn and gorilla statue, and the last of the crew, Zhin and Daru, were the ones that brought the most of the food.

Zuko absently noticed that a couple of the men were missing, but those who had arrived where the ones that had been the most...enthusiastic...about music night.

Iroh was playing the horn with certain gusto, while Ji was accompanying with the mandolin and singing a rather stirring song. Pon beat a soft signature, and Win sat with his chin in his hands, staring at the music making.

_It_ is_ a rather stirring piece,_Zuko admitted to himself. _But it's hardly the kind of thing that would be considered "fun"._

Mai closed her eyes, sighing deeply. "I'm bored," she muttered. "Go dance."

Zuko blinked, uncrossing his arms. "I can't dance to a song like this!"

Mai opened one eye. "Do it."

He leaned down and looked right into her eyes, a smile playing on his lips. "Aren't you having more fun with me?"

Mai opened the other eye, returning the smile. "Are you promising to entertain me?" she wondered.

Just as their lips met, the music stopped and was replaced by a flurry of shouted protests and guffawing. Both Fire Lord and Lady winced and broke apart, Mai plastering on a face of apathy while Zuko practically bared his teeth. "Hey, we're making the best of this situation the only way we can!" he snarled.

Iroh placed a hand on his chest, his face a perfect mask of dismay. "How can you say such a thing when all I want is to give you some fun with music and good food?!"

Win looked away and to Zuko briefly, his eyes glassy. Instantly Zuko knew he was drunk, and he felt like punching someone. "Have some food, Prince Zuko," Win slurred, waving a hand to the table overflowing with food.

"Oh! Oh!" Zhin jumped to his feet, clapping his hands once. "Yes, the food! You have to eat some, Pri – er - Fire Lord Zuko!"

Zuko started to protest, but Mai's finger suddenly shot up his nose. "Feed me," she said.

He batted her hand away, and she laughed and slid off him, getting to her feet and stretching. He had to admit that he already missed her warmth, but watching her stretch was also something to enjoy, so it evened out. She caught him, shot him a look, and pointed to the table. "Food."

Iroh called out, "Daru, do you know the words to 'The Wily Man's Giraffe-Horse'?"

Daru frowned, chin in hand. "What the hell is a giraffe?" was his reply.

Win smiled slowly. "A type of ship," he said.

Pon tossed the smallest of his drums at him. Win squawked, rubbing his head. "It is not, you drunken bastard," he snapped. "It's a kind of lemur."

Mai stared, still standing before them. "Are you all for real?" she wondered.

Zuko rolled his eyes and stormed over to the table, grabbing up a plate and piling it with all of the foods that he knew Mai liked, as well as some choice tidbits for himself.

When he turned around, he found Mai holding a sifter of fire whiskey.

His gaze shot to Iroh, who quickly looked away and started up the beginning notes on the horn. He looked to Win, who was giggling, then to Ji, who was joining in with Iroh with a blank face. Pon, he knew, hated alcohol (it had been Win who brought it), and Daru and Zhin were all about cooking with it.

Mai blinked at him. "Oh, come on," she said. "It can't hurt to have a few sips. Besides, I'm sure it'll go well with the food."

Zuko grumbled, but let it go. He vowed to keep a close eye on her, just in case. He knew, quite personally, how easy it was to chug back alcohol and feel the effects way too late.

* * *

It was too late.

First of all, Mai hardly ate anything. She kept sipping the whiskey, occasionally taking a bite, while she watched and listened to the older men play. As the songs started to get more and more rowdy (especially since the alcohol was flowing more abundantly), he noticed that Mai was, with each drink, starting to react in time with the music.

"Uh, Mai?" he said, noticing that her feet were tapping rather hard. "Um, you okay?"

She turned to him, and he saw that her cheeks were slightly pink. She smiled. "Of course!" she replied. "The music is great!"

Alarm bells went off in Zuko's head quite suddenly. Mai was..._perky_. That was _not normal_.

"Uh," he said uneasily. "Sure it is?"

Mai shot to her feet. "I'm going to dance!" she declared. She held the glass of whiskey out to him, which he took, and she dashed out close to the band.

Iroh grinned around the horn's mouthpiece, his eyes flashing at the sight of her. He raised a hand, called out a song, and started again.

_This song,_Zuko thought with a sense of dread. _Not _this_ song._

It was the song that often kept him up late into the night, when the ship was forced to dock for a few days and the men were so bored that they were desperate for entertainment. It was a rather shameless and extremely vulgar rendition of a common limerick. Zuko had heard it so many times that he knew all of the words by heart, but that still didn't stop his face from burning in embarrassment.

Mai listened, her eyes wide, her cheeks getting pinker with each line. Then, in the middle of a particularly raunchy verse, she burst into laughter, threw her hands up in the air, and started to dance.

And that's when Zuko's world suddenly narrowed into just Mai. He didn't hear the lyrics. He barely heard the music. All he could see was his wife, her arms up above her head, her eyes closed and her head tilted back, smiling widely and getting lost in dancing.

Her body swayed, her feet moved, and her arms swung in ways that he had never seen before. It was like she was in complete command of her body, in complete control of every nuance and every detail that her dancing required. And he found himself, in turn, being drawn in, unable to think, barely able to breathe, his eyes unable to look away.

And it also became quite clear that the blood from his face had travelled elsewhere.

Mai's dance only stopped when the song was over. Her arms dropped to her sides and she joined in the raucous laughter that followed. All eyes were on her, but she didn't seem to notice. She turned and looked over at him, her eyes flashing with triumph and joy, and Zuko felt his mouth go dry with sudden desire.

He jumped to his feet and dashed over to her, not really thinking about it. In one move, he slid his arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her, hard. Mai's arms snaked around his neck, pulling him even closer, so close that he brushed up against her, and he groaned against her lips. She tasted like whiskey, like fireflakes and spice, but also like herself, and she felt..._amazing _against him.

"_AHEM!"_

Zuko jumped, pulling away from Mai rather abruptly. Iroh, as well as the other men, were staring at them, barely able to contain their sheer amusement.

"Zuko," Iroh said calmly, "you are ruining music night. If you are not going to be helpful, then you might as well leave."

Zuko opened his mouth to protest, because he really didn't want to leave, not exactly, but the sudden impish flash in Iroh's eyes stopped him. He swallowed, hard, his attention still mostly on Mai, and Mai's lips, and how Mai's body moved...

"Go on, and take her with you," Iroh said dismissively. He even waved a hand at them. "You're useless."

Zuko looked at Mai, who grinned, her face full of sly triumph. Wordlessly, he nodded, grabbed Mai's hand, and together, they ran out of the room.

A sea of catcalls and laughter followed, but Zuko barely heard it.

* * *

The moment they cleared the room, their hands were on each other, Zuko's back to the wall. Fingers clenched into clothes, got caught in hair, lips met, kissed with fervour, only to come apart again while hands explored further and brought gasps of anticipation from both man and woman. Zuko clung to Mai like she was the only thing keeping him alive, which, at the moment, was exactly how he felt. Mai's responding whispers, her eager hands, her warm and feverish kisses, it all made him want to grab her and take here right then and there in the hallway.

But, no. He wanted to savour this. It had been a long time since they had had fun like this, pure fun, like when they were kids, or even when they were in Ba Sing Se together before coming home. Who knew when they would get a chance like this again? If the assassination attempts taught Zuko anything, it was that peace was fleeting, and was meant to be enjoyed to the fullest extent possible.

"Zuko," Mai whispered into his ear, her teeth grazing his earlobe, her breath hot. He felt a wave of heat rush through him, so intense that he thought he was going to lose it. It got even worse when Mai suddenly dug her nails into his back and jumped up into his arms, latching her legs around his waist, angling herself against him very carefully, so close that he grunted and had to shut his eyes to regain control.

"Mai," he rasped out. "Not here."

"Yes, here," she hissed into his ear, her teeth biting down harder. He shivered, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her against him, so hard that she gasped into his ear and dug her nails in harder.

He groaned out her name again into her neck, and she shuddered against him. He slipped his hands down to her hips and gripped tight, adding friction between them. Both she and Zuko moaned together from the feeling, Mai's cry like a stab into his groin.

"_Now,_Zuko," Mai's voice was husky in his ear, and he could practically feel her trembling against him with her own desire. And if he were to be honest with himself, he almost agreed. His fingers actually started to unravel the belt around her waist and slip down underneath before he caught himself and jerked them away. Her eyes snapped open and glared into his, the colour glazed over with lust. "No, go back," she demanded, but he shook his head, trying to clear his mind enough to focus.

"No, Mai," he murmured. He held her close, shaking a little, and he buried his face into her neck with closed eyes, trying to regain control. "Wait a second. We should go home, really make this count."

"Sex now," Mai answered, "lovemaking later."

He barked out a laugh, feeling both lust and affection jolt his stomach. "I get it," he whispered, and in reply Mai pushed herself right up against his erection, proving that she did, too. He almost lost it again, and had to shut his eyes tight and cling to her for a moment to regain any kind of speech capacity.

"Now," she repeated. He shook his head and, with a fair amount of regret, tried to push her away and off him. She dug her nails and heels in hard, refusing to let go.

"Fine," Zuko growled. He grabbed hold of her tight, keeping her close, and with staggering steps, practically flew down the hallway with her in his grasp.

* * *

By the time they reached their bedroom, Zuko's shirt had already been yanked off and left somewhere on the floor in the hallway, and Mai's hair was down and already messy.

They fell on the bed together, where a quick wrestling match with their clothing ensued. Curses, both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, erupted from the two as they wrestled to be rid of any kind of barrier between their bodies. Zuko's hands bruised, and Mai's teeth bit hard, but neither noticed anything of the sort in the flurry of their desperation.

With a cry of triumph, Mai was the first to free Zuko of any clothing. She pushed him off her, pinning him on his back and straddling him faster than he could say her name. She pressed herself close, kissing the breath out of him, and he could taste the whiskey on her breath and feel the heat of her body. Some of the knives tied to her arms and thighs dug into his skin a little, but he didn't feel it. All he could feel was that consuming desire, that need to be whole with his wife. He kissed her back, bringing a purr from her throat. She reached down, slipping her hand between him and grabbing hold of him tight. Then she sat up, her eyes burning to his, and pushed herself down onto him, taking him in deep and hard.

He gasped, his fingers digging into her hips, and a sly grin played on her lips, her eyes dancing with that same triumph. She moved sporadically, deliberately changing her pace to keep him off-kilter, to help him last longer, which he, at that moment, both adored and dreaded. It was a bittersweet agony that he relished in.

"Eyes on me," was the only thing she said as she moved, her fingernails digging into his shoulders as she rode him, her eyes burning into his. He found it hard to obey, each of her lunges sending him closer to the peak that he thought he would lose his mind.

When her eyes started to haze and her smile faded, he found it easier to focus on her. When her eyes shut tight, her nails bit deep, and her hips ground against his, he held her to him, drinking in the sight of her. A low, soft groan escaped from her, and she threw her head back and gasped quietly, riding it out. She shivered, then leaned down, pressing her body right up against his, burying her face into his neck.

Zuko smiled, kissed her cheek softly, then held her tight and bucked his hips up sharply. She gasped again, shortly, clinging onto him again tightly. "Again," she whispered into his ear, her voice thick, and he complied, over and over, under her gasps became faint cries.

In one move, Zuko took hold of her and flipped her over, so that she was the one beneath him. She squirmed under him, pushing her hips up in a manner that made him grunt. He held her close and kissed her hard, moving slowly, listening to her reactions, changing the pace to bring more cries of pleasure from her.

"Zuko," she gasped out, her voice strangled. He opened his eyes and looked at her, and she was looking back, her eyes burning so bright with desire that he leaned down and buried his face into her neck and lost himself in her, moaning out her name into her skin, reaching his pinnacle and feeling her hold him tight.

They clung to each other for a long moment afterward, Mai's fingers weaving through Zuko's hair slowly, her eyes shut and her lips curled in a satisfied grin. Zuko kept his face in her neck, his eyes shut as well, trying to catch his breath, shivering a little from release.

"You were right," Mai whispered. "It was better to come home."

Zuko smiled against her neck, pressing closer, greedy for her warmth and smell. She shifted, making it more comfortable for the both of them, reaching over with one hand and grabbing the blanket up and over Zuko. He pulled it over a bit more, so that it was covering them both, before snuggling up against her again.

"Mai..." he murmured into her ear lazily, his eyes closed again.

"Mm," was the drowsy reply.

"Thanks for making me go to music night."

With a chuckle, Mai slid her arms around him and kissed him tenderly. He kissed back with a laugh uttered against her lips.


End file.
